Asthma Awareness Month 2021

May 1 - 31, 2021 in the USA

May 2021 is Asthma Awareness Month. Asthma is a common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction and bronchospasm. Common symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath.

Asthma is characterized by recurrent episodes of wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and coughing. Sputum may be produced from the lung by coughing but is often hard to bring up. During recovery from an attack it may appear pus like due to high levels of white blood cells called eosinophils.

Use of antibiotics in early life has been linked to the development of asthma. Also, delivery via caesarean section is associated with an increased risk of asthma-this increased risk is attributed to the lack of healthy bacterial colonization that the newborn would have acquired from passage through the birth canal. (With material from: Wikipedia)